...choice to vote for the president. There is a common saying that goes along the lines of, “Everyone’s vote counts.” Americans like to think that if they vote, then their vote will make a difference in the election. But in actuality, one vote...
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...Should the Electoral College be abolished? Most Americans know very little about the Electoral College, unless it’s an election year in which an increased number of Americans gain a general understanding of the system. Among Americans who have an understanding of the Electoral College system there is often debate as to whether or not America should still use the system that dates back to our founding fathers. These debates unearth topics such as how the Electoral College is the best compromise for our country, or how the system is outdated and was only created so the founding fathers could perpetuate slavery. Although the Electoral College is not a perfect system, it should not be abolished. What is the Electoral College? “The Electoral College...
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...Clinton, even though Clinton won the popular vote. Although some may believe that the electoral college is undemocratic and outdated, in actuality, the electoral college is still necessary to prevent the more populated states from controlling the presidential election. The electoral college was put into place more than 200 years ago by our founding fathers. The founding fathers were striving to find the fairest way to selecting a new ruler and best avoid having a power hungry dictator. Their solution was...
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...In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, briefly summarize how the Electoral College works. Explain some of the main pros and cons in the debate about whether to keep or abolish the current Electoral College process. Also explain one proposal to change how the system works without formally abolishing it. Evaluate the various arguments and the proposal. Include at least two perspectives in your assessment: According the New York Times (2008) Electoral College 101, in America how the system works in electing our commander and chief, is generally the Electoral College was created by the founding fathers and most that doubt direct democracy because they didn’t believe that the President and Vice President should be elected directly by the people and congress. The Electoral College includes 538 electors from 50 states, and the state capital calls the electors. The electors according to the constitution are responsible for electing the President and Vice President of the United States. A majority is required of 270 to win of the 538 electoral votes is needed to elect our President. The majority of the time the electors cast their votes for candidates receiving the majority votes in that particular state. Electoral votes are primarily based on the number of senators and representatives. Article II of our constitution sets guidelines on how our President should be elected and how often it states” the president “"shall hold office during the term of four years." The season...
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...Electoral College process Institutional affiliation Date How the Electoral College works The Electoral College is a process which was put in place in order to allow a nationwide system of fairness after selecting leaders. For instance, this process works with the fact that the results of the popular vote are not guaranteed to stand as the presidential election is usually decided by this system. Under this process, if you cast your vote for the president, you also vote for an often un-named elector who will cast a ballot in a separate election that eventually chooses the president. The main pros and cons in the debate about whether to keep or abolish the current Electoral College process. There are certain pros and cons in the debate about whether to keep or abolish the current Electoral College process. For instance, the Electoral College has hampered the democracy of United States in a manner inconsistent with current American practices. Taking for example, all voters are not given equal opportunities under the Electoral College (Bates, 2004). Even though the Electoral College inflates the victories of the winners, such as establishing their legitimacy, these victories do not give presidents liberated ride in Congress, where their party may be in the minority or the politicians may not think that Electoral College landslide should be treated the same as a genuine popular majority landslide (Yale University Press, 2004). Taking for example, President Ronald Reagan won...
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...Electoral College Debate Introduction As said by Juan Williams, a journalist for FOX News, “In the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore got more votes than George W. Bush, but still lost the election. The Supreme Court's ruling in Florida gave Bush that pivotal state, and doomed Gore to lose the Electoral College. That odd scenario - where the candidate with the most votes loses - has happened three times in U.S. history.” Although forty-five U.S. presidents have been elected and this scenario has only happened three times, it still leads to scrutiny, questions, and arguments about the effectiveness of the Electoral College. These disputes have gone on for quite a while as to which method of choosing the president is the best option. The electoral...
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...Many people favored a popular vote, while many others favored a Congressional appointment. Therefore, the Electoral College was established as a compromise between the two. (Federal Register) The Electoral College contains 538 electors who vote to determine the President, as well as Vice-President, of the United States. This consists of 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 electors for the District of Columbia that was granted by the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution. Typically,...
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...like anything, has its pros and its cons as well. In the following paragraphs will be the tip of the iceberg of some things that are debatable about democracy in America. One topic in particular that has been debated is the Constitution. The Constitution was written in 1787. The Constitution is a nation’s basic laws. It creates political institutions and divides or assigns power among governments (Edwards, Wattenberg, & Lineberry, 2008). When the Constitution was written all those years ago the founding father were putting a system together to make sure that no official received to much control and go power crazy. One of the best pros to the constitution is that the power is divided among government officials. As stated in the paragraph above, this helps to keep power equal among those government officials. For example, a president is only able to serve two terms in office and the president has to be elected back in office at that. This keeps new ideas and new people in office. Where there are pros, there are always cons. One con that comes with the Constitution is it is very hard to have the Constitution amended. There have only been a handful of times that the Constitution has been amended. The Bill of Rights is one that was able to be amended, and it was for a good cause. Another thing that has some American’s questioning the democracy in America is voting. Although there are many American’s that do not vote there are still several that do vote. Some American’s feel...
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...Electoral college represents indirect popular elections. This system is an example of Federalism. Both the States and the Federal Gov't are involved in process: States are electing a federal president. Each state has certain number of electoral votes, which depends on population. As long as a candidate gets just over 50% of the popular vote in the state or just more popular votes than others candidates, he wins 100% on the electoral votes. There are 538 electoral votes. According to the rules of the electoral college, every state, no matter how few people lives here gets 3 votes to start with. The rest is distributed according to the population. At this point, electoral college protects small states from the big states. It gives them voting...
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...System in America In the United States of America, the Electoral College system is used to elect the President. This system was created to make voting a quicker and easier process when the country was established. Horseback was the quickest way to transport votes at the time and to speed up the process of voting, the founders created the electoral college system. To eliminate the delay of travel, the electors who represent each state could be updated more quickly. Today we now have the internet and information can be easily transmitted instantly with no time delay when votes are counted and coming in from all states on the day of the election. The United States is a technologically advanced country so why do we keep using this process to elect our next president? This citizen criticizes the Electoral College system in the U.S. It must be replaced because it is outdated and unfair. The main issue that citizens have with the Electoral College is how it decreases the voting power. According to William Kimberlin, “States are given three voted regardless of their population but based on the state's population, the citizens votes are given to the states”. (uselectionatlas) This system is giving votes to citizens who are not in the states boundaries. In smaller states, a vote has more influence than a vote in a larger state because votes from larger states are distributed among the smaller states. For example, eight votes are taken away from California and redistributed to smaller...
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...called the Electoral College. The process of the electoral college is complex and has many components to how it works. The only power the people have over the electoral college is the ability to appoint our electors through the popular vote; however, the electors have free reign, without needing consent from the people, over who is in charge every four years. Within the Electoral College is a rich history, pros and cons, how electors are chosen, how the difference of the popular vote cause Serbian states to be swing states, and why past elections have brought up questions about if the electoral college should be amended. The original philosophy behind the electoral college is what has caused the rich history of the electoral college. Everything began in 1789 when the idea of the electoral college came to elect our very first president. The Electoral College is a system of selecting the next president by electors who vote based on the popular vote of America (U.S. Electoral College). Alexander Hamilton created the original form of the...
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...Caden Jenkins English 2010 February 21, 2016 Annotated Bibliography Berns, Walter. “Should The Current Electoral College Be Preserved?” Congressional Digest, 80. (2001): pg.16. EBSCOhost. Web. 21 February 2016. From being one of my databases I thought that it would be a good idea to have both sides of the argument, so that is why I selected to put another pro of the electoral college. The reason for this is to simply receive more credibility from my audience that I have looked at all sides of this and from all of this information was able to draw my own conclusion. Furthermore the audience is always pleased with the fact that you do not simply hammer on the topic but show the good things about it as well. It answers key questions as to why it should be kept what good things it does for the smaller states in giving them power. It argues that if we were to take it away it would mean that the smaller states would then become more over powered by the larger ones. Durbin, Richard J. “College System Be Preserved?” Congressional Digest, 80. (2001): pg.17. EBSCOhost. Web. 21 February 2016. This article is a little bit older being published in 2001 but it still holds very good information on whether or not the college should be preserved or not. This is a very credible source to me simply because it comes from a man who has been working in politics for quite sometime. The audience would be pleased reading about this as well because they will be able to receive the opinion of a man...
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...popular vote. However, as many know, citizens do not directly elect the president of the United States. The president is actually chosen by the Electoral College, a group of 538 electors. These electors are distributed amongst the states based on the number of senators and representatives it has in Congress. A candidate must then try to gain a majority of electoral votes from these states to win the election. For many years, the Electoral College has been debated. Some argue the Electoral College is unneeded, while others believe it is necessary. The Electoral College is a necessary system because it ensures the selection of a qualified president, contributes...
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...The purpose and equity of the U.S. Electoral College is under debate, however, there are many advantages to this system that conclude a compelling argument for why it should be kept in our society. This information is based upon the article “The Pros and Cons of the Electoral College”. Foremost, it becomes less demanding to run a campaign. Without one having to fuss about the states they are sure to win on, it creates a cheaper way for citizens to run for president, contributing more variety of parties and candidates for the election. Furthermore, if an error had occurred in calculating one of the state’s votes, it is simple to determine its position in the ballot. Often, this provides for a clean decision to be made after the election. Ultimately,...
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...The system that a country decides to holds elections is important because it will forever influence crucial dynamics of the government. The electoral system consist of rules that determine not only how elections and referendums are conducted, but how their results are determined and carried out. Electoral systems lay out exactly how the voting process is planned to pan out. This includes everything from when elections occur, who is allowed to vote, how ballots are marked and cast, who can stand as a candidate, how the ballots are counted, and any other factors that can possibly affect the outcome. These political electoral systems are defined and protected by both electoral laws and constitutions. Elections are crucial to a functioning democracy since It is the most efficient procedure to place someone in power that is wanted by the people....
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